Generally, displays are devices for representing images. These days, demand for flat displays such as liquid crystal displays, polymer light emitting displays and organic light emitting displays is rapidly increasing.
Such a flat display includes a pair of substrates and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the pair of substrates. The flat display produces images in such a way that light transmittance is controlled by intensity of electricity applied to the liquid crystal layer.
Recently, as the availability of flat displays is improved, technologies for manufacturing curved displays are being actively developed in order to use the flat display in various fields.
An example of technologies for manufacturing a curved display is disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0051630, entitled “Method of manufacturing curved display panel”.
The conventional method of manufacturing a curved display panel, which is designed to manufacture a curved display panel having a desired curved profile from a flat liquid crystal panel which includes upper and lower substrates made of glass and disposed to face each other and a liquid crystal layer provided between the upper and lower substrates, includes cutting outer surfaces of the upper and lower substrates to reduce thicknesses of the upper and lower substrates to predetermined thicknesses, and bending the upper and lower cut substrates into desired curved shapes and attaching transparent substrates made of glass or synthetic resin, which have the same shapes as the desired curved shapes, to the outer surfaces of the upper and lower cut substrates, respectively, by means of a transparent adhesive, so as to maintain the curved shape of the upper and lower cut substrates.
The conventional method may be used to manufacture a curved display panel in a relatively simple manner by cutting a panel and then attaching the cut panel to a transparent substrate which was previously bent into a curved shape.
In the conventional method of manufacturing a curved display panel, the entire surface of the panel is cut and thus regions of the panel to be gripped are reduced in thickness and, as such, the panel may be broken during bending thereof. As a result, productivity of curved panels may be reduced.
Furthermore, in the conventional method of manufacturing a curved display panel, when the panel is etched, a sealing material for preventing leakage of a liquid crystal layer contained between upper and lower substrates may be etched by an etchant and, as such, the etchant may be introduced between the upper and lower substrates, thus causing breakage of the panel.
In addition, since a conventional separate completed display panel or a ready-made display panel is provided with circuit boards called “taps” attached thereto, it is difficult to manufacture a curved display panel from the display panel.